Social buttons

Languages

Osasuna's Punal lacking motivation after Barca thrashing

Osasuna midfielder Patxi Punal said their 7-0 loss to Barcelona has left him pondering why he plays the game.

Published

18 March 2014

Rather than gape in awe at the marvel of Lionel Messi (hat-trick, and an assist), and the brilliance of Andres Iniesta (one goal, two assists) and Alexis Sanchez (one goal, one assist) on Sunday, Punal said the drubbing at the Camp Nou sapped him of motivation to go on.

Osasuna sit 15th in the La Liga table, just three points outside the bottom three, and Punal said the result was detrimental to his motivation levels with 10 games to play this league season.

"Everyone finds it tough when you go to one of these places and get totally demolished like that," Punal said on Monday.

"The truth is that it takes away your motivation to play football, even though it is great to go somewhere like that and perform well."

Punal said he believed Javi Gracia's men were disadvantaged by the fixture list, as Barca were more hungry to impress ahead of their league date with Real Madrid on Sunday.

"We came up against a Barcelona side that was fired up in preparation for a 'Clasico' and that's basically what happened," he said.

Osasuna next face seventh-placed Sevilla at home, as their bid to avoid the drop continues.